Hydroxyethyl cellulose has some application in the textile industry, food products, pesticides, cosmetics and other aspects. Especially in the oilfield, it plays a very special effect and can not be replaced by other products.

Hydroxy ethyl cellulose (HEC) has thickening, suspending, dispersion, water retention and other outstanding performance and are widely used in many industrial sectors. Especially in the oil fields, Hydroxyethyl cellulose performs very well in drilling, completion, workover and fracturing processes. It is mainly used as a thickener in brine.

The drilling fluid with the addition of Hydroxyethyl cellulose is commonly used in hardrock drilling and drilling under other special circumstances such as in the shale layers with leakage control of the circulating water, excessive water loss, abnormal pressure, or being rugged.

In spudding and large hole drilling technologies, the application effects are also very good since Hydroxyethyl cellulose has thickening, suspension, lubrication and other properties. Used in the drilling mud, it can cool the iron filings and drill cuttings, bring the cuttings to the surface and increase the mud carrying capacity. Shengli Oilfield once used it as the mud carrying fluid of boreholes, It has significant effects and will be put into practical use.

In the downhole, when faced with a very high shear rates, since Hydroxyethyl cellulose has a peculiar rheological behavior, the viscosity of the drilling fluid locally can get close to to the viscosity of water. On the one hand, it helps to improve the drilling rate, make the drill bit difficult to heat, and extend the shelf life of the drill bit; on the other hand, the holes drilled can be clean and have high penetration rate. Especially used in the hardrock layer structure, this effect is very obvious and a lot of materials can be saved.

The drilling fluid with the use of Hydroxyethyl cellulose can significantly reduce the hydrodynamic friction, thereby reducing the demand on the pump pressure. In this way, it makes the chance of occurrence of well leakage decline. In addition, when circulation is restored after the shutdown, it can also reduce the the starting torque. When added to the non-dispersible saline bentonite mud, Hydroxyethyl cellulose can greatly improve the filtration performance of mud.